


Simon's Extraordinary Freak Out

by chosenandloved



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Honesty, Revelations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25338274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chosenandloved/pseuds/chosenandloved
Summary: Zoey confides in Simon about her powers.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Simon Haynes
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13
Collections: ZEP Freak Out for Discord





	Simon's Extraordinary Freak Out

Simon blinked, clearing his vision. He had been staring off into space again. He found himself doing that a lot recently. 

He sighed, swiveling away from his desk in his rolling chair. Lifting his arms over his head, he stretched, trying to get the blood flowing again. It wasn’t fatigue that had him unfocused. In fact, Simon felt the opposite of absent-minded ever since he had started to attend therapy regularly. If anything, there were too many thoughts swirling in his mind at once.

The past month had presented a number of challenges. He’d kept his promise and begun seeing a therapist regularly. He’d always been a fierce advocate for therapy, until it had been his turn. He didn’t doubt its importance or how effective it was, but he’d be lying if he said he was enjoying it. It was treatment.

At first, he’d had a hard time opening up to a stranger. It wasn’t just that he had a hard time being vulnerable, it was the sheer amount that had to be unpacked. There was grief, sure, but there was also regret, uncertainty, projection...All that unpacking didn’t always fit into a one-hour session, so he had to pick up the unsorted pieces of himself off the floor and stuff them back in before he left. 

His therapist called it processing and reliving. It just felt a lot like new pain. It was like re-breaking and setting a bone that hadn’t healed correctly. He respected the process, and knew that he had to put in the work. There couldn't be any sweet without the sour. Simon wasn’t new to hardship, but they were uncovering the things that he’d done his best to bury. He supposed that was the point.

Presently, his thoughts wandered to his friend, Zoey. It was Monday, and today was her first day back at work after two weeks away. Her father had died after a rare illness, and understandably, she had taken some time to process, grieve, and spend time with her mother. Her brother had also welcomed an adorable little boy shortly after Mitch’s death. To say Zoey had been on an emotional rollercoaster was putting it mildly. They had communicated via text during her time away, but it had been on her terms. Simon had made it clear that he was there for whatever she needed.

He’d be lying if he said it didn’t bring his thoughts back to his own dad. Trying to be mindful, he concentrated on maintaining deep, even breaths.

_ Back to the present, Si. _

Simon shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and then heard a faint tap on the glass wall of his office. 

_ Speaking of the devil. _

He looked up to see Zoey standing in the doorway of his office. 

“Hi,” she said softly. 

“Hi,” he repeated. “Would you like to sit down?” he asked, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.

Zoey smiled. “No, thanks. Actually, I was heading out for lunch and thought you might like to come with me?”

Simon returned her smile. “Absolutely. I could use a little fresh air.”

He grabbed his coat from the back of his chair and followed her down the hall to the elevators. 

\----

The two of them had gone to a ramen place nearby for a quick lunch and then decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather by taking a walk near the water.

Zoey had shared how it was good to be back. The morning at work had passed quickly, and she said that it was a welcome distraction. The team had done a good job of welcoming her back and helping her find her footing again.

In turn, she asked him about how therapy had been going, and he’d answered honestly: That it was hard, but worth it. He hadn’t sought it out because he’d thought it would be easy.

Zoey had just launched into an explanation of how she was also looking into seeing someone herself, when all of a sudden, she stopped mid sentence. Her expression went blank. Simon placed a hand on her arm in concern, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was staring straight ahead, watching as if seeing something unfold in front of her.

Naturally, Simon’s eyes followed hers.

He looked out on the promenade, scanning for what had taken Zoey’s attention. By his sight, everything looked completely normal. Walking by were older couples, harried businessmen on their phones, and young families pushing strollers. Simon turned slightly and matched Zoey’s gaze. It settled on a young woman sitting on a bench about 20 yards, from them, gazing wistfully at the crowd before her.

Simon followed as Zoey took a few steps closer. The young woman tilted her face up to the sun and closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, Zoey’s posture softened and she let out a breath she’d been holding.

Simon turned to her, unsure of what was going on. “Zo? Are you feeling okay? Do you know that woman?”

“I’m fine,” she answered. “It’s nothing.”

He knew something was up. “Zoey, why are you interested in this woman?”

She paused, glancing up at him as if trying to decide what to say. She seemed to find whatever she was looking for, because she continued. “She’s...waiting,” Zoey said breathlessly.

“Waiting?” Simon repeated. “Waiting for what?”

Zoey considered for a minute. “For a child of her own.”

He furrowed his brow, confused. “A child? How could you possibly get that from what we saw? She was just sitting there.”

Her cheeks flushed pink. “I don’t know, exactly...I mean, I’m guessing.” She turned her face to the wind and looked out at the bay. 

There was something she wasn’t saying. 

Simon stepped to her other side and leaned against the railing, mimicking her posture. They stood together like that for a moment, in silence. He couldn’t help but feel worried. He had seen that look on Zoey’s face before, but he had never been able to place it. Every time he’d noticed it, he’d chalked it up to being tired, or being stressed. Apparently there was something to what he’d perceived.

Zoey turned to him, her eyes searching. She opened her mouth as if to speak and then thought better of it. She turned her attention back to the water. The space between them was heavy with unspoken words. He waited patiently, his anxiety beginning to send tingles up his back.

She gestured to a nearby bench, and they sat down. His anxiety increased tenfold. Again, she turned to him, this time with a resolute look on her face. Simon felt that surge of adrenaline that kicks in when someone is about to share something important with you, but you don’t yet know what it is.

“Simon, I have to tell you something,” Zoey began. He waited.

She drew in a deep breath. “I can... perceive things. Specifically, I can hear things from other people. I can hear people’s innermost thoughts and feelings expressed to me through song.”

Simon stared at her, attempting to digest what she had said. Her face held no trace of dishonesty, and it wasn’t like her to make outlandish statements for the hell of it. He suddenly had an intense urge to laugh-not at Zoey, but at the absurdity of what she was telling him. He felt a million things all at once.

He knew that she must have observed a thousand different emotions play out on his face. 

“It’s okay,” she said. “I know that it’s a lot to take in.”

Simon stood up from the bench, and began to pace, needing to feel the wind against his face. He felt like he wasn’t getting enough oxygen. He hurriedly unbuttoned his camel colored coat and peeled it off, tossing it on the bench. He felt suffocated.

Zoey, his friend, who was a real person, was telling him something that was only true in books. In movies. In his imagination.

What was she even saying? People sang songs to her? Was she some kind of empath? An HSP?

This wasn’t the way the world worked. The Universe didn’t offer peeks behind the curtain like this, no matter how much mankind wished it to be so. This could not exist on his plane of understanding. 

_ Could it? _

Simon was aware of Zoey quietly observing him. He glanced back at her. She was sitting with her hands in her lap, fingers laced together. The breeze ruffled the fiery waves around her face. She was the same Zoey he’d always known. He trusted her. She was still  _ her _ , even though she had told him something crazy, something he found impossible to make sense of or believe. He was having a hard time reconciling the two things. A wave of nausea came over him. He bent down, resting his hands on his knees, gulping in air. 

After a minute, he felt slightly more steady. Simon met her eyes again. She appeared to be waiting for him to speak.

The problem was, he had no words.

He cleared his throat. “So, um...people sing to you. Songs about what they’re feeling.”

Zoey nodded, seeming relieved that he had finally responded. “Yes, although they don’t realize that they are doing it while it’s happening.”

“So, you just watch while they’re singing, without interacting with them?”

“Mostly,” Zoey explained. “Although with some people, I’m able to participate.”

“I see,” he replied, deep in thought. He was starting to realize some things.

“When do these songs happen? When the person gets overwhelmed by a certain emotion?”

Zoey nodded. “Yes, or when there’s some unspoken desire or problem.”

Simon considered for a moment. He began to pace again. 

_ Good God. It made sense. _

All of the fragmented pieces of his thoughts began to come together. 

“Yeah, so when you came to the engagement party-”

“When I invited you over for dinner-”

“When I ran into you and Max getting Cheesequakes-”

“Yes,” Zoey replied simply, seeming to know what he was asking.

Simon smoothed his hand over his beard. For a long moment neither spoke.

“Were they all me?” he asked.

“No,” she answered carefully, as if unsure how much to share at this stage. “Some were you, some were Jessica, you and Jessica together…” she trailed off. She looked up, meeting his eyes.

“Are you mad?”

That was the last thing he’d been expecting. Bewildered, he shook his head. 

“Why would I be mad?”

“Because I didn’t tell you earlier. Because there were things that I learned about you that you didn’t know you’d shared.”

That hit him like a ton of bricks. It was one thing to have so many emotions swirling that they overwhelmed him. It was quite another to imagine that he wasn’t in control of them at all.

He paused for a moment.

“Have you told anyone else?”

Zoey let out a deep breath. “Mo. Max. My dad.”

He nodded in response. He thought for a moment. “Well, I see why you weren’t eager to share.”

Zoey tilted her head, confused.

“Because in order to tell people, you had to admit that you knew a lot more than they thought you did,” Simon clarified. “Stuff that they might not have been ready to share, otherwise.”

Zoey let out a shaky breath, and his eyes snapped to hers. 

“I’m not mad, Zoey. How could I be mad?”

Simon looked at her and felt...pity? Remorse? For all of the amazing conversations they’d had, and for all the times she’d been his sounding board, and he hers, there had still been more. More for her to carry.

“God, Zoey. I’m sorry. That must be a lot to deal with.”

He got it. How would he have felt? What would he have done with this information?

He could barely condense his own emotions. How would he have managed the emotional load of his friends, his family, even complete strangers?

Simon took one of her hands in his, and gave it a squeeze. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

“I’m glad you felt like you could tell me. You’ll get no judgment from me. If anything, I’m probably the most New Age out of the entire office,” he added, which earned him a smile from Zoey.

He sat back down on the bench, feeling a tiny bit lighter. He hoped Zoey did, too.

Suddenly, Simon wasn’t feeling as overwhelmed about his own emotional load as before. There were things in this world that he didn’t understand. Maybe it was better that way.


End file.
